The Albert Hunt Trust has announced that it will soon stop accepting new funding applications, ahead of its planned closure in 2029.
The foundation, which was established in 1979 and supports local charities across the UK, became a charitable incorporated organisation in 2018 and the £63.6m assets of its previous organisation were transferred to it.
It announced in 2023 that it would be spending the remainder of its resources by 2029 and mark its 50th anniversary by closing.
In a statement at the time, the foundation’s trustees said they would continue their grantmaking strategy in the short term “while developing a strategy for the phased final distribution”.
Now, the trustees have announced they have “reluctantly” decided to narrow the funding criteria further and refuse further funding requests from any new applicant, effective 1 February, meaning charities that have not previously received funding from the Albert Hunt Trust will be unable to submit a request.
The trustees added the decision had been made “in an endeavour to manage increasing demand for support and to ensure that the spend out of the trust is managed well”.
Foundation’s expenditure increased in latest accounts
The Albert Hunt Trust’s latest accounts, for the year ending 24 December 2025, showed its expenditure had increased to £10.8m, from £7.9m the previous year. Around £10.7m of the total was spent on charitable activities, compared with £7.7m the year before.
Grants accounted for £10.5m of the £10.7m figure, a £3m increase on the previous year. They were paid to causes including hospices, homelessness, and health and wellbeing appeals.
The foundation still carried forward £38m at 5 April 2025.
The Albert Hunt Trust is the second foundation to announce plans to “spend down” all of its assets after the Lankelly Chase Foundation also said in 2023 that it would be redistributing over £100m ahead of its planned closure.
Lankelly Chase’s most recent accounts showed its expenditure fall by over £5m year-on-year to a five-year low.
Julian Corner, CEO of the Lankelly Chase Foundation, told Civil Society: “We announced in 2023 our intention to dismantle Lankelly Chase, and to redistribute our endowment based on the terms of those who work closest to communities.
“The foundation’s 2024-25 accounts reflect a number of funding programmes concluding in 2023-24 as we brought our previous grantmaking strategy, programmes and operations to a close.
“We are now in a research and development phase, laying the groundwork to ensure that the redistribution of our funds is both practical and genuinely transformative.
“We remain fully committed to redistributing our assets by 2028.”
